November 2023 Volume 5

MEMBERS SPEAK

tungsten arc and flux core arc welding on the various pieces took a little bit to “master”, along with getting used to welding around preheated parts around 600 degrees. Seeing how the dies are worn down, building them up about a hundred thousandth over the desired height, so when they are machined down again there is still plenty of height to be worked with and they won't be short. Using different filler metal for different areas of the trim blade, like stellite filler metal for the “working” edge. Thinking about my time at Walker Forge/Precision Thermal Processing, I am fascinated at the different aspects of forging. From steel coming into the facility, staging it to be cut and forged, metallurgy lab, welding, machining, automation, inspection, and heat treating. Also including maintenance and engineering. They are all included in the process to create a successfully forged part. The people I was able to work with were very knowledgeable and willing to teach me about what they do. Experiencing the many aspects of a forging has made me interested in learning more about a career in forging.

FIA Orders & Shipments Survey

FIA’s Orders & Shipments Survey program was re launched in 2019 as a web-based high-end survey product. The survey’s scope is confidentially tracking FIA member North American shipments and bookings for forged products inclusive of the Impression Die, Open Die and Rolled Ring processes. About the FIA O&S Survey: • FIA partnered with MTInsight, the statistical tracking division of The Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT), to build a custom analytics program to serve the forging industry. • Categories tracked include OPEN DIE, CLOSED DIE and ROLLED RING forging as well as markets served, and material used. • Survey takes 30-minutes or less to complete each month • Included reports: • Monthly Index Overview • FIA members enter their monthly orders & shipments data into AMT's custom-built, confidential software system.

• Market Share Report (Dollars) • Product Report (Index Values) • Profile Report

• As first step members complete their full 2016 sales (in Excel), then gain access to the program for monthly data loading • This is a members-only benefit. Questions?

If you would like more information or a Zoom demonstration to walk through the process of working with the software and loading monthly numbers please contact Jim Warren at jwarren@forging.org.

Abby Frisk Student, Ferris State University Intern, Walker Forge Al Underys Engineering, Metallurgical and Materials Science Memorial Scholarship Recipient (2022-2023 & 2023-2024)

FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2023 87